Heartbeat
by deans-pudding
Summary: When Cas ends up in trouble, Dean is determined to save him. After making a simple deal, he gets his angel back, but not in the best condition. It's when Cas is dying that Dean comes to realize how much he needs Cas in his life.  T for mild language.


**This is my first fanfic, so sorry if it sucks! Criticism is welcome though!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Nothing, nada, zip.**

Dean was lounging on his motel bed, boots and coat still on, drinking a beer. The bed was about as comfortable as every other motel bed he had slept on. In fact, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember what having his own bed felt like. The last time he had had a bed to call his own was the night of the fire. He could see it in his mind, just like it had happened yesterday.

A slam of a door shook him out of his thoughts. Sam came barging in with a worried look on his face. Dean downed the remnants of his beer before Sam spoke.

"Grab your stuff. We need to leave," Sam said with urgency in his voice.

Dean stood up and grabbed his bag. "What's wrong?"

"Bobby called. Said he needs our help. Didn't specify, just said to hurry."

The brothers left the room and headed to the front desk to check out of their room. After leaving the motel, Dean headed down the asphalt to Bobby's house in the Impala. Not much conversation went on between Sam and Dean in the car. Besides Sam informing Dean of Bobby not picking up the phone, the only sound inside the car was the air conditioner pumping out air and Dean's classic tape collection playing through the speakers.

About six hours later, Dean was pulling his Impala up to Bobby's house. Dean and Sam immediately climbed out of the car and ran inside to find out what exactly was so important. When they came in the door, Bobby was just sitting on his sofa, looking as calm as can be. He looked up and walked over to the boys.

"Bobby? What the Hell is going on?" Dean exclaimed and threw his hands out to the side.

"Watch your tone, boy. If you weren't so damn impatient, I would've already told ya." Dean lowered his eyes at this, and let Bobby continue. "Turns out your little angel friend, Castiel, is caught in a trap. Demons somehow captured him, and they brought him nearby."

"Okay, no problem. Let's barge in there and get him back. We can handle some punk-ass demons," Dean said with certainty. "Besides, we can't just let Cas rot in there. He's helpless without his angel mojo. I mean, who knows what all they've done to him." Dean was fuming just thinking about what all those black-eyed jerks could have done to his friend.

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go."

Bobby glanced at Sam and Dean with worry. "It ain't that simple. I went by the place earlier. We're not talking a few little demons. I saw over two dozen of those things just outside. Who knows how many are inside? There's a reason they have so many of 'em guarding the place. It's gotta be a trap. They know that you guys will come to the rescue of Cas, and they're using it against ya."

"Well, what do you think they want from us?" Sam questioned.

"I'm not sure, but I'll bet it has something to do with the showdown between Lucifer and Michael," Bobby said.

Dean looked at Sam and Bobby. "Look, I don't know or care how, but we are getting Cas out of there. I'm not gonna let him die that way. After everything he's done for us, we owe it to him to at least _try_ to save him."

Sam, Dean, and Bobby all exchanged concerned looks, and then headed to the living room to plan.

Dean drove the Impala up to an abandoned factory building with Sam in the passenger seat and Bobby in the back. They could see dozens of demons around the outside of the building, just standing like soldiers at attention.

"Well, here goes nothing," said Sam. Shotgun in hand, all three of the men got out of the car and headed toward the demon-infested factory. They hid themselves behind different trees, waiting to execute their plan. Sam was the first to run towards the building, with Dean and then Bobby following. They shot at the demons with their guns loaded with rock salt. They hit them, one-by-one, down to the ground.

Dean stopped shooting at the demons. He noticed something strange. None of the demons were coming after them. They weren't even fighting. Sam and Bobby seemed to notice because they stopped shooting, too. They all glanced at each other with confusion, and lowered their guns. At that moment, all of the demons looked at each other, then expelled themselves from the poor souls they were possessing. A cloud of black smoke rose in the air, and then twisted away into the night sky. The bodies that the demons had once been in fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

After watching the black smoke rise away, they walked up the factory with guns raised, just in case anything came out to surprise them. Dean led the way into the inside of the factory. It was there that they saw Crowley, the Crossroads Demon, leaning against a wooden post, sipping at a glass of scotch. He turned at the sound of Sam, Dean, and Bobby arriving.

"Ah, you're finally here. I was wondering if you'd even show up." Dean was examining the place with skeptical eyes. The only thing he could see was the dirty walls and fluorescent lighting. No other demons, and no Cas, either. Crowley continued to talk. "Glad to see you're still walking, Bobby. That was worth a wee little soul, wasn't it?" Bobby scoffed in disgust.

"What the Hell do you want? And where's Cas?" Dean demanded.

"Oh, don't worry your silly little head. Your little angel boyfriend is fine. Well, I assume he is. No promises on how my demons are treating him," Crowley said with a smirk. "Now, as for what I want. I want security from you and your brother. I want make sure that no matter what happens in the future, you two won't come after me like my own personal Hell Hounds."

"And what makes you think we'll agree to that?" Sam inquired with a testing tone.

"Well, how else do you plan on getting your beloved friend back? I can promise you that without my help, you'll never get to him. Look, I'm a business man. I just want to make sure that if things go sour somewhere down the road, I'm guaranteed safety. And with that, I will also guarantee you two safeties from any of my plans. How does that sound? Oh, and you might want to keep in mind that every second we spend down here, is another second Castiel spends with my demons." Crowley drank the end of his scotch, and poured himself another. "So, what do you say?"

Dean didn't even hesitate to consult with Sam or Bobby. "Fine. Just give us Cas." Sam looked over to his brother with a worried look.

"Dean, you can't just say 'yes' just like that! There has to be a better way to save Cas than dealing with Crowley!" Sam walked over to his brother, but Dean ignored him and stared straight at Crowley.

"Good. It's settled then." And with that, Crowley disappeared, and then reappeared with a mangled and bloody Cas beside him. "Here. I've held up my part of the deal. Make sure to hold up yours." Once again, Crowley was gone, and left Cas to stand there mindlessly in front of the three of the men.

Dean dropped his gun and ran to Cas's side. "Cas! Cas, are you okay?" He swung the angel's arm over his shoulder and grabbed him by the waist. "Sam, get over here and help me!"

Sam ran over to help Dean. To two of them then carried the angel to the Impala, where they gingerly sat him up in the back seat. Bobby sat next to him in the back, watching Cas lay next him lifeless. Dean and Sam jumped into the front, and Dean sped all the way back to Bobby's house.

Cas was carried inside Bobby's house in the same way he was carried to Dean's car. They laid him on the sofa, but Castiel did nothing except breathe. Dean could see his chest barely rise and fall. He pulled a kitchen chair up next to Cas's side and sat.

He could hear Sam's footsteps approaching him. "Dean, you should go to-"

"No."

The next thing he knew, he was alone in the living room with nothing except Cas's limp body next to him.

Two hours had passed. Two hours of Cas just lying on the couch, breathing. Two hours of Dean listening to the angel's heartbeat. Two hours that were the longest two hours of Dean Winchester's life.

In the time of those two hours, Dean hadn't really thought about anything else except the angel in front of him. In his mind, he thought back on all the times that Cas had saved not only his ass, but Sam's too. He remembered the first time he met Castiel in that barn. Dean had no idea that that simple meeting would have been so embedded in his mind.

Unexpectedly, Dean spoke.

"Cas, I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you can. Look, I don't know how to say this, but you just can't leave, okay? You have to be okay. You have to pull through this. I mean, you're practically family now. And I care about you, man. Who's gonna show up to save my ass all the time, you know?" Dean laughs to lighten the mood, but realizes that the only person he's trying to cheer up is himself, considering Castiel is unconscious.

Dean runs his fingers through his hair and rubs his hands roughly down his face. "I know I'm not always the nicest person towards you, but I only get frustrated because I care. And I know that a simple 'thank you' isn't much, but I want you to know that I'm really grateful for everything you've done. Not only for me, but Sam and Bobby, too," then he looks up, hoping that the angel has woken up by now. He's sadly mistaken. Tears begin to collect in the hunter's eyes, and he clasps his hands together.

"Cas, you've gotta wake up. Cas, please. Cas, I need you to wake up. I need to know that you're okay. I need to know that even if you're not around, you're alive and kicking. You've just got to survive. I want you to stay around. I mean, I, ugh. What I mean is," then Dean sighs, and the tears swell up in his eyes. He blinks them out, and lets them run freely down his cheeks. He stares down at the floor and continues. "What the hell, I'll say it. I love you, Cas. I just need to be able to wake up in the morning knowing that you're alive. And you just can't die. You've gotta keep on fighting."

"Dean," Cas whispers.

He looks up to see that Castiel's eyes are open, just as blue as ever. The tears continue to roll down his face, but tears of joy this time.

Cas reaches in his trench coat pocket and says to Dean, "I have something to give you." Dean looks and sees that Cas is pulling his amulet out of his pocket. The amulet that Sam gave him so many years ago when they were children, it still looks the same as when he dropped it in that trash can. Cas hands the amulet to Dean. "I went back to get it for you."

Dean takes the amulet and just stares at it for a moment. Cas went back to get the necklace for him. After Cas had told him that it was useless, he went back to get it. He slipped it over his head and onto his neck. Dean didn't speak, but simply looked into the angel's deep blue eyes. He gave a small smirk, knowing that Cas would know he is grateful. Cas gave a small smile in return and placed his hand on Dean's knee.

They stayed like that for a long time, just staring each other in the eyes. Just when Dean was about to speak, he noticed the little glimmer in those blue eyes leave. They seemed to become made of glass, and then eyelids closed over them. Dean panicked. He sat unmoving quietly, listening for the sound of his angel's heartbeat. It never came. He could recall the sound of it, but it wasn't actually there.

Dean sat there for two hours. Two hours of Cas just lying on the couch, not breathing. Two hours of Dean hoping for the angel's heartbeat. _Those_ were the two longest hours of Dean Winchester's life.


End file.
